More and more people are communicating via the Internet and other networks. The Internet, in particular, is a hierarchy of many smaller computer networks, all of which are interconnected by various types of server computers. Some of the servers interconnected through the Internet provide database housing as well as storage of a plurality of web-pages, generally referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW). By virtue of being accessible through the WWW, these web-pages may be retrieved by random Internet users, i.e. surfers, operating computers with a browser. Exemplary computers can be a personal computer (PC), a laptop, a notebook computer, a cellular telephone, a handheld computer, a personal data assistant (PDA), or any other computing device with wired or wireless communication capabilities communicable over an IP network.
Some common examples of browser applications used by Internet surfers are Openwave Systems Inc. or Opera Mobile Browser (a trademark of Opera Software ASA), Microsoft Internet Explorer (a trademark of Microsoft), and Firefox Web Browser. Using a web browser application on a computer that is connected to the Internet, surfers may retrieve web-pages that include information such as news, professional information, advertisements, e-commerce links, content downloads, etc. A common browser application may use Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP) in order to request a web-page from a website. Upon receipt of a web-page request by a browser, the website responds by transmitting a markup language file, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), that is representative of the requested page or pages. Notably, HTTP requests and HTML responses are well known in the art and are used as representative terms for the respective markup language files throughout this disclosure.
A common web-page may include numerous buttons, or links, operable to redirect a surfer to other locations within the website or on the Internet. These links offer a surfer a path to a next event which may be the presentation of another web-page, embedded content within the present web-page (e.g. an image, an advertisement, a banner, etc.), a playable media file, a number for forwarding a short message service (SMS) with a password, an application form, a registration form, etc.
A common link design may display a name of a category of information, such as news, sport, or economics. Other link designs may comprise a banner or an image intended to attract the attention of a surfer to an advertisement, an image, a text message that prompts the surfer to dial a number and use a password, etc. If a surfer is enticed to explore the offer shown on the link design, the surfer will use a pointing device such as a mouse, and place the pointer over the selected button, which may be comprised of a banner for example, and issue a command by “clicking” the mouse to “click through” on that button. In such a scenario, the surfer's browser may return information from a website associated with the particular banner that comprised the link.
In the present description, the terms “selecting button,” “selection button,” “redirecting button,” “slot”, “link,” “Hyper Link” and “banner” are used interchangeably. The terms “banner” and “slot” can be used as a representative term for the above group. An “advertisement” (AD) or “object” may be used as representative terms for content. Exemplary types of content can be the text of an AD as well as an AD's font, color, design of the object, an image, the design of the page in which the object is presented, etc.
The benefit from presenting a web-page, as well as improving a surfer's experience when surfing the web-page, can be increased if the selection buttons within the web-page are targeted toward the immediate observer. There are numerous existing methods and systems for offering targeted content in a web based environment. Some of the methods employ questionnaires containing categorized questions on user preferences. Such methods require the management of huge databases containing information on a large number of users. Besides the cumbersome management of all the information acquired from questionnaires, another negative is that many users prefer not to reply to a personalize questionnaire.
Other methods for identifying and offering targeted content in a web environment make use of client applications installed on a user's computer. The client applications are operable to track a user's activity on the web and subsequently report a compilation of the tracked activity to an associated web server or content server. Such methods are not popular with many users concerned with privacy. Further, such methods may require the often costly and awkward installation of a client application on a user's computer.
Some methodologies for delivery of targeted content may comprise a learning period and an ongoing period. During the learning period, a plurality of options of content within a certain web-page may be presented to various surfers. The response of the surfers to the various content options is monitored throughout the learning period in anticipation of ultimately employing the best performing alternative. During the subsequent ongoing period, all surfers requesting the certain web-page will be exposed to the previously selected alternative. Such an algorithm is often referred to as “The king of the Hill” algorithm. While a “King of the Hill” approach can fit the preference of a large group of surfers, it is prone to missing other groups of surfers that prefer other content delivery alternatives.